Casa d'Aristi Xtabentun Honey Liqueur

Sweet, honey jellybean like taste.

This is a pretty interesting liqueur. I don't usually care much about how a drink looks (the color and "legs" and all that), but what deserves a mention with this one is its texture. As soon as you start pouring it you can notice how viscous it is. It's not as viscous as honey but it's got an oozy roll to it, much thicker than a typical spirit. Sniff it and you get a mild anise aroma floating on top of a honey sweetness, with some other peripheral herbal hints (basil? rosemary?). Take a sip and you get that honey-thickened texture with a blast of strong anise. The anise flavor carries through into a sharp, almost spicy finish. What I find remarkable about this is its balance between "light" and "heavy", which gives it the versatility to create unique variants of a wide range of cocktails. The sharpness of the anise and the sweetness of the honey allow it to act as a sweetener in light, citrusy drinks like a ti punch or bee's knees. But the heavy texture and the rich herbal profile mean it can also be nice in an old-fashioned. Of course I know almost nothing about cocktails so maybe others will be aghast at this, but I've found it a useful ingredient for making the kinds of cocktail I like to make, namely "here are two or three rough-and-ready ingredients, let's combine them to get something tasty". It's also pretty good on its own --- it's a bit too sweet to take too much at once, but a little nip can be nice as a digestif, and its got enough body to be savored. The price is also solid at about $27. I plan to keep some of this on hand going forward.